“It can’t be. This picture is so old,” I said, looking at her.
Adam looked over my shoulder and let out a laugh. “It just keeps getting better and better. Just when I think that I have learned all that I need to, I find out there is even more to this world than I ever thought.” He shook his head and put his hands on my shoulders.
“Does it look like him?” my mother asked, annoyed.
“Yeah, it looks exactly like him,” I admitted, not understanding why she was instantly so irritated with me.
“Then sit down, you two. We are about to learn a little family history.”
She moved the book out of the way and motioned for us to sit.
I took the center of the bed, while Adam sat behind me with his legs open so that they fitted around me. Then he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. I could feel his heart pounding against my back. He was ready for more stories.
Chapter 15
Family History
“Long ago, before your father and I were banished, there was a human girl that he took claim of. She was beautiful and sweet, harboring within her the power of the fire element. It was never found out what being she received the element from, for she grew as if she was human.
“Your father was enamored of her. He would spend hours talking about her, sharing the times that they had spent together. She had no idea that your father was the bearer of Hell’s flame. She fell in love with him, knowing full well that he was demon-born. He never told her otherwise.
“One evening while she slept your father went to see her. You see, he has always found human sleep patterns to be fascinating. We would spend so much time discussing mortals and their dreams. Let me mention he was there to protect her from the hands of her father as well. He was a brutal man who enjoyed beating his daughter for any wrong that he could come up with.
“Your father convinced her to run away with him to escape the evils of her father. She ran with him halfway across the earth until he felt she was safe. After that, I didn’t see your father for several years, and when he did return, he carried with him a small babe.
“I was repulsed by his actions. He had left me for this human, only to come back with a child. The baby was his, he admitted up front. I took one look at the infant and fell instantly in love. He was the first real baby I had ever held in my arms.
“Your father informed me that the young woman had died giving birth and he could not leave the child unattended in the mortal world. I convinced him to leave it to me. He would still be allowed favorable visitation if he so wished. I ascended, for the first time, to the mortal Earth. Hiding my wings away from human eyes I carried the baby, which your father had affectionately named Shawn, to the door of the first church I came to.
“I knocked loudly on the door, and this tiny little man and woman answered, looking at me with clueless eyes. I could tell it wasn’t the norm for a woman to appear on the doorstep of a church with a small baby in her grasp. They were good people though, I could sense it. I asked them if I could enter the church, which they allowed me to do. I must have looked odd with my white dress, bare feet, and loose hair because the little man would not stop staring at me. Not to mention the fact that it was the middle of winter.
“I pleaded with them to take Shawn. I told them of his blood lineage, who his father was, and what I knew of his mother. At first, they would not listen until I stepped back, and in the middle of their church spread my wings. After that, they pretty much said yes to anything that I suggested. I told them that the money would always be there and that Shawn’s father would still like to see his son from time to time. When I mentioned the concept of a demon visiting their parish, they were not too thrilled with the idea.
“I had to agree to come with him whenever your father decided he wanted to see Shawn. So that is what we did every year. On the anniversary of Shawn’s birth, we would both ascend from our homes, and he would spend a few hours with his son.
“When Shawn turned sixteen, we learned that he was a Carrier. The fire in him was so intense that the couple that took him in was scared that he was going to burn the church down. So, your father decided it was time to stay with Shawn until he was old enough to take care of himself.
“Shawn ran away two weeks later after burning the house that your father had purchased for them to the ground. Shawn resurfaced ten years later in London. He had your father’s grace, his mind-reading ability, and he was ruthless with the fire. The amazing thing is, Shawn looked exactly the same as he did when he had disappeared ten years earlier. He had not aged a day, it seemed.
“The surprising truth is that Shawn was born in 1498. Though he has aged a bit over the last five hundred years, he is the oldest existing Carrier, and he knows more than most. He is an asset to your team. He is, however, a demon. There is no angel blood in his body, so he is not as conflicted as you are, Dawn.
“I don’t know why he is here, but it is safe to assume that it has to do with Miranda and her army of the dead. I
